A Birthday High

Those of you that know Christopher also know that he loves iconic buildings.  In every city we visit this is usually the goal.  He was at the top of the WTC and The Empire State Building in NYC in April 2001, the Fernsehturm in Berlin, The Petronas Towers in KL, and on and on.  So when it came time to celebrate his Golden Birthday (25) in Singapore, what better way than to spend the night at The Marina Bay Sands.

At about $600 USD per night one night was enough.  And what a great time we had.  After checking in (we got pulled out of the long line and taken to the VIP desk—lord knows why) we headed down to MBS where we celebrated with lunch at the DC Super Hero’s Café at MBS.  Christopher is a fan of both Marvel and DC, so he likes having lunch here now and then.

After lunch we headed to our room and quickly changed into our swimsuits, covered up with the requisite white robe that was just long enough for me, grabbed our coveted room keys, and headed to the main attraction—the infinity pool on the roof, 57 stories above the ground.

 

You can only access the pools if you are a hotel guest—what an experience.  Julie landed 3 lounges on a shallow shelf in the “adults only” pool.  Standing in the pool, leaning on the outside edge, and just looking out at Singapore was pretty special and worth every penny. 

After spending the afternoon in the pool, we headed back there the next morning well before checkout thinking we would be the only ones.  Everyone else in MBS seemed to have the same idea.  The good thing was after stretching out time to the max, we were able to hop in a taxi and be home in 20 minutes.

Don’t you love giving a birthday present that everyone can enjoy?

A Shellfish World

When a co-worker asked me if I wanted to go “prawning” I almost immediately thought of the Peter Jackson science fiction film District 9 (and I am most definitely NOT a Sci-Fi person).  It turns out there is the local sport/pastime of fishing for prawns at local facilities.  So of course I said “yes” because when else would I have chance to go prawning?

So Christopher and I met up with him and his two sons on the other side of the country (in Singapore that means about a 30 minute drive) at Hai Bin Punggol.  It is not quite what I expected (I actually don’t know what I expected). 

The place was a collection of large ponds under a large roof.  Families were sitting  on white resin chairs, holding poles, chatting, and relaxing.  Every minute or so someone would flick their wrist as they hooked a prawn and up would come a surprisingly large prawn hooked at the end of a 2m line.

So we went up and paid our $20 SGD each and that got us a pole setup, a net basket to keep the prawns we caught, and an hour at the pond.  And since we were the only westerners there, they set us up with the “prawn master” to teach us the secrets of prawning.

Turns out a lot is dependent on the set up of your prawning rig.  First he had a special weight that allowed him to set the length from float to the hook so the hook was just off the bottom.  Then you tossed out the line and watched for the float to go underwater.  While we did this the Prawn Master kept grabbing our poles and telling us “CONTROL, CONTROL”.  We never did understand exactly what that meant we needed to do, but we heard it a lot. 

(As an aside, prawning is a form of recreational fishing and recreational fishing is all about holding a pole in one hand and holding a beer in the other.  Turns out this is a truism in Singapore as well.)

Finally you would see your float go underwater, count “1…..2…..3…..4…..5” and then flick your wrist.  The trick, as we learned, is just to flick your wrist and not your whole arm (that would result in prawn flying thought the air, bouncing off the ceiling, or wrapping around a pillar).  And hopefully land your catch.

Once landed you pull off his claw arm so he doesn’t pinch you, pull the hook out of his mouth, and place him (or her—we didn’t know the difference) in the net basket.  You rebaited your hook and tossed the line again.  A shout of “Control , Control” usually came about a minute later.

We must have done well because when they checked our basket at the end of the hour they went behind a wall and came out with more bagged prawns to add to our catch – I am sure it must have been as an award for our prawning prowess.  Our per person catch totals were 5,5,3,1, and 1 with the two dads bringing up the rear.

There were grills there to prepare them, but since we were already grilling meats that night we decided to have a Singapore Surf and Turf. 

Will I do it again?  Probably not.  Am I glad that I did it?  Absolutely.  Travel isn’t just about seeing the sights; it’s about experiencing the unfamiliar.  And that’s what we did and it is something I think we will remember and laugh about in future years. 

Eat It

The food in Asia is so good it's easy to forget great or just good places, so we are keeping a list of restaurants as we go and explore.

Latteria Mozzarella Bar (SG 4 August 2018)
40 Duxton Hill, 089618

• What a fun and wonderful restaurant.  Sit outside to get the full effect of the carless street
• The cheese appetizers are spectacular.  What's better than fresh cheese prepared just so.  Great to share
• Entrees are pretty impressive too.  The fresh gnocchi with porcini and truffle cream stood out, but all were good.

Violet Oon Satay Bar & Grill

3B River Valley Rd, #01-18, Clarke Quay, 179021

• Peranakan food stands out in Singapore because it is something you don't find everywhere.
• My favorite was the marinated pork satay. but all was good.
• There are 2 other locations, next time we will go to the one at the National Gallery and then head up to Smoke and Mirrors for the view and an after dinner drink.

Bakalaki Greek Taverna (SG -- Visited  24 July 2018)
3 Seng Poh Rd Singapore 168891

• Traditional Greek food and a delightful veranda to dine outside on.
• The wine list is all Greek, so asking for recommendations isn't a bad idea
• We had a group of 8 or so and shared platters

The Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar (SG -- Visited 21 July, 2018)
17D Dempsey Road, 249676

• Dempsey Hill is out of the typical tourist area, but close to "expat central" of Tanglin and Orchard.  It is a collection of restaurants, bars, and furniture/antique stores.
• This is one of my favorite restaurants in Singapore with it's modern bistro with a touch of Asia  fare in an old military barracks.
• The sea bass in coconut sauce, foie gras, and warm shrimp and avocado are some standouts.
• Full bar with a wonderful twist on a Lemon Drop called a Yuzo Drop.

Propaganda Cafe (VN -- Visited 12 July 2018)

21 Hàn Thuyên, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

• We found this place on our first trip to HCMC and went back again with a large group
• A multi-level restaurant with typical "porapaganda" posters and murals.  We pretty much bought out their cloth napkin counter
• Really good food and no worries about hygene.

Hoa Tuc Saigon (VN -- Visited 11 July 2018)

20 Trengganu St, #02-01 Chinatown, Singapore 058479

• This restaurant is in Disctrict 1, in an old opium refinery.  It is a bit hidden through an archway from the street, but there are other eateries.
• We say inside upstairs and really enjoyed this modern Vietnamese fare
• Lots of plate sharing

Yum Cha Chinatown (SG -- Visited 2 July 2018)

74 Hai Bà Trưng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

• This hidden dim sum restaurant is a fun place to take friends
• Good food
• Hidden entrance through the back of a stall, then upstairs to a large dinning room

Rosso di Sera (TH -- Visited 17 June 2018)
63 Sukhumvit Sol 15, Wattana Bangkok

We had Thai food for a coupe of days straight and wanted to get Christopher something he liked, not just ate

• Good pizza from a woodfired oven made by a pizzaman from Naploi
• Bolognese was pretty good.
• Highlight was the complimentary house made creamy lomoncello

Pizza Face (SG -- Visited 9 June 2018 (and many times before)302 Beach Road #01-03, 199600

• This is THE BEST pizza in Singapore
• I started coming to this place in March 2017 because it was a quick walk from my serviced apartment.  But even now being a 30 minute walk and bus ride, we come back every month or so.
• Pizza is all about the crust and place does not disappoint.  A little char and just the right amount of salt in the dough.  And the toppings match the crust in taste.
• Service is wonderful and they now have Peroni on draft

Rangoon Tea House (Myanmar -- Visited 7 June 2018)

Ground Floor, 77-79 Pansodan Rd (Lower Middle Block), Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

• This place was recommended by a coworker who lives in Yangon. It is very much a "hipster" place that caters to expats and tourists.  That said, the service, food and drink were wonderful.

• Burmese food with touches of fusion.  We had the curry chicken, mutton byrani, and grilled pork chops.  Small plates meant for sharing.
• It was Negroni week and proceeds went to Autism Speaks--nice touch.
• 88,000 Khyat for 3 of us with drinks.

Nara Thai Cuisine (SG -- visited 3 June 2018)
2 Orchard Turn, #B3-21,ION Orchard, 238801

• We had tried a coupe of Thai restaurants, but only through home delivery.  This place is close by (near our MRT station) and we finally have it a try
• Their beer was surpsingly expensive ($12.90 SGD for a Tiger) and they charge $0.50 for each glass of water, but tout that refills are free
• That said, the fried shrimp cakes were quite good and reasonable.  We also got chicken pad see ew that was quite good.  Everything was served with that touch of elegance that can be characteristic of Thai food.
• Other than the beer, everything was fairly priced--we will be back.

Werner's Oven (SG -- visited 2 June 2018)
49 Joo Chiat Pl, Singapore 427773

• Julie and Christopher stumbled on this German restaurant/bakery in Joo Chiat a few months ago.  At that time they just shared a pretzel, but when we went in early June it was for the full meal. 
• Highlights were a $15SGD 0.5l Hoffbrau hefewiezen on tap, a board of 4 house made sausages that couldn't be beat, and the owner Nancy who made us feel at home.
• This may become a regular place for us.

We Found Elvis

Today was our last full day in Bangkok.  This city is so big, so full of stuff to see, and so crowded and electric that we decided to get a private tour guide to show us some of the sights.  That way we could go efficiently, learn about what we were seeing, and just take full advantage of what Bangkok had to offer us.

And that led us to Anan, our very experienced 67-year-old guide.  Anan grew up in an agricultural village way outside of Bangkok.  He told us he didn’t even wear pants until he was 8 years old, unless it was for the very occasional trip to Bangkok.  As a child he loved music and shared with us how he learned to speak English by singing western songs, The Beatles and Elvis were among his favorites.  Periodically during the day we spent with him, he would break into a couple of bars of music.  His knowledge of English was quite good, his knowledge of Thai history was even better.

Our first visit of the day was the Grand Palace.  We were not alone here as approximately 20,000 people per day visit it.  The palace was built in 1782 and its construction took only 2 years. 

Having Anan along to explain what we were seeing made quite a difference in our experience.  Things like pointing out how the stone pavers between the temples were rough stone versus the smooth, polished stone of the temples.  This was because life can be tough and there will be rough and trying times, but heaven will be smooth -- love stuff like that.  He also pointed out how the tamarind trees were trimmed to the same shape as the temples.

There were three large pagodas here with different architectural styles: Sri Lankan, Thai, and Hindu.  Unlike the gold covered pagodas in Myanmar, these were covered with ceramic mosaics. There was also a large model of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  When Cambodia was part of Siam, there was a plan to move the entire temple to Thailand.  More rational heads prevailed and a large model was built instead.

We continued walking around to Wat Phra Kaew, the temple that house the Emerald Buddha.  The Emerald Buddha is a bit of a misnomer.  It is actually made of jade, not emerald, but this 26” high, 600 year old Buddha is an important religious icon and considered a protector of Thailand.  Placed very high within the temple (where no photography is permitted) there is a chance to get a quick photo from the outside through a small opening.

Anan taught us about the design of the gable ends of buildings in Thailand.  At the top is Garuda, a mythical bird-like creature in the Hindu and Buddhist religions.  The eaves reach down from the peak like legs and they “stand’ on snakes which symbolize enemies.  In other words, the building shows good over evil.  There were also statues that reminded Julie of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.

After seeing and learning so much, Anan led us through multiple forms of transportation.  We walked out of the Grand Palace, took a tuk tuk to a pier, caught a ferry to cross the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun (which Christopher wanted to see since he had seen it built out of Legos at Legoland Malaysia), to catch a cab to a little lunch place along a canal to eat before our afternoon on a long tail. 

Baan Silapin  in an artist colony that had been there for about 200 years.  We walked along a wooden sidewalk past shops and studios.  At one point Anan stopped and bought some multi colored “puffs”.  We weren’t sure what they were and I thought that they might be some sort of shrimp chip.  Turns out you tossed them into the canal and 100’s of large catfish would swarm and devour them.  After that we ate lunch at a little waterfront restaurant (the pandang curry was excellent).

We walked back the way we came to meet our long tail boat.  As we passed a monk in his golden robes, Anan made sure to tell me “don’t touch the monk”, which I successfully avoided doing.  A few minutes later imagine my surprise when I felt someone grab my shoulder only to realize it was the monk touching me.  After a moment’s panic, I composed myself and looked him in the eye.  He smiled at me and asked me in perfect English “Where are you from?”.  I told him “we live in Singapore, but are from San Francisco”.  I swear his eyes twinkled as he said “Such a beautiful city”.  As Julie says, it was a moment.

Our boat came and we hopped on board.  Our long tail, like every other one, had garlands of flowers draped on the bowsprit as offerings.  We tore up the canals, heading by waterfront homes and shops.  Some homes were fancy while others were shanties.  People, if their hands were free, waived as we passed.  We saw more than half a dozen very large (1.5 meters?) monitor lizards swimming through the water.  Anan told us how they help keep the canals clean by eating the decaying carcasses of dead animals.  The circle of life in action.

We ended up at Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market .  This is a small market with only a few boats, but was a lot of fun.  There were westerners there, but we were definitely in the minority as families were buying, eating, and just hanging.  My second favorite thing there was a little girl singing with her brother playing the ranat ek (a Thai wooded xylophone).

What was my favorite thing?  Well, remember how Anan liked to sing?  We got to see it in action.  We were just chilling with him enjoying a beer and a guy on a small stage was playing guitar.  He had an open microphone and some folks went up for a little karaoke (and most weren’t any good).  We encouraged Anan to go up, he did, and man did he deliver the goods .  It was a great way to end a memorable day and trip to Bangkok.

A Tuk Tuk Here and a Tuk Tuk There

Bangkok’s known for its wonderful food, temples, traffic, and tuk tuks.  And we experienced them all in one night.

We hadn’t been to Bangkok before and Julie started looking onto tours to find something different for us to do, something to “experience” the city as only someone in their late fifties could do.  (When asking younger people at work everyone listed their favorite bars and clubs—not our scene).  She found a great 4-hour nighttime tuk tuk tour though Viator.

We needed to meet at the Krung Thonburi BTS station in central Bangkok.  This meant, for us anyway, that we had to walk to the MRT the underground subway) then transfer to the BTS elevated subway to our meeting place.  And while this took a while, it was much better and faster than taking a taxi because Bangkok can be (and was) wall to wall gridlock.

At the station we met up with our guide, Net.  We had a group of about 10 or so and she led us to where our 5 tuk tuks were waiting.  Now when I think of tuk tuks, I think of the utilitarian ones that I have seen in Mumbai that were originally designed in post war Japan to fulfill a need with limited resources.   But these were a different breed of tuk tuk.

First off, they were quite open and could hold the three of us comfortably.  These 3-wheeled buggies were loaded with bling.  LED lights that pulsed, flashed, and changed colors continually.  It was like being in a mini-disco on wheels.  And yes, IT WAS FUN.

Our gaggle of tuk tuks headed out to the Klong San Market , a bustling market (what market in Asia isn’t bustling?).  This is a “typical” night market with stalls selling clothes from which you can buy a complete outfit, including shoes, for about $15USD.  That is unless you are someone my size in which there is virtually no place in Asia that you can buy clothes that fit.

The market was also filled with aromas from a line of food stalls running down the center of the marketplace.  We tried sausages with an unknown meat filling (don’t EVER ask) and samosas with a mung bean filling.  A tasty snack to start the night.

Satiated for the time being, we hopped in our tuk tuks and sped to Wat Prayoon.  This temple is known for two things, its large white pagodas and holding funerals.  As Net explained about the role this temple played in Buddhism, we passed around and ate pieces of steamed bread that we dipped in a Thai coconut and panda leaf custard dip called sangkhaya.  I hardly remember what she said it was so good.

The tuk tuk parade then head to a site known and the Giant Swing – I had no idea what it was.  Turns out that this tall (21 meters) swing is a Brahman religious structure, and was originally used as part of a ceremony during a Brahman Festival. Men swung themselves as high as they could in hopes of reaching a bag of gold coins that would be hung at heights of around 50 feet. Those who succeeded could keep the treasure, though many of them did not. The festival took place in December after the main rice harvest, but the rite was canceled in 1935 under the reign of King Rama VII, after several of these attempts ended in accidents and even death.  Today the swing portion no longer exists, but it still makes a wonderful backdrop for photos at night.

Across from the Giant Swing is the official name of Bangkok (Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit ) which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the longest name in the world.  Our guide and the tuk tuk drivers sang a song made popular by a pop singer a few years ago that was the whole name.

Now it was the time for the highlight of the night, food0!  We headed off to Thip Samai, a well known Thai restaurant.  What was fun about this restaurant is that it’s kinda upside-down.  It’s a different type of sidewalk café as they cook on the sidewalk and you eat inside.  It’s also very popular so the tour company had a “line stander” that ensured we were seated quickly when we arrived.  Pad Thai was their specialty and quite good.

The toilets in the restaurant were all squatty potties.  Our guide told us they used to have western toilets but took them out because patrons kept standing on them and breaking the seats.  When in Rome….

We crossed the busy street in the safest manner possible—All of us clumped in a large group moving at a steady pace.  Back to our tuk tuks for the drive past the lighted Grand Palace to the Wat Pho Temple.

This temple is adjacent to the Grand Palace and is well lighted (and cooler) at night.  The temples and stupas are covered with mosaic tiles.  These were originally pottery shards from broken shipments of porcelain from China (the pottery served as ballast).  It was very different from Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda that is covered with gold bricks, but no less beautiful. 

There is a Reclining Buddha here which is closed at night, but still plenty to see.  There are pavilions that  were some of the first teaching institutions in Thailand.  You can still see the stone tablets inscribed with massage points (evidently Thai massages go back a long ways).  This education was started by Rama III.

We also learned about how Rama IV ended slavery in Thailand in 1905 by buying all of the slaves from their owners and freeing them—a good way to prevent a civil war.

Back in the tuk tuks we went to our last stop of the night—the Flower Market at Pak Khlong Talat.  This flower market is open 24 hours per day and is bustling.  We walked past stalls in which workers were stringing flowers into colorful garlands that would be used for offerings.  Most of the work is done by immigrants, many of which are from Myanmar (as evidenced by the Thanaka on their cheeks).  I am not sure that I have seen so many flowers of all kinds.

The last stop of the night was in a loft above the flower market where there as an end of the night spread of mangosteens, hairy fruit, ice cream, and mango with sticky rice.  A nice way to end the evening.

It was back into our tuk tuk for a Mr. Toads Wild Ride type of trip back to our hotel on the other side of Bangkok.  Zipping along elevated freeways at 80 kph in an open tuk tuk is (hopefully) a once in a lifetime experience.  But we made it safely back to our hotel and now have a night of experiences that will be hard to forget.

               

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And You Don't Even Need to Wear a Tie

On our list of places to visit while living in Southeast Asia (it’s a VERY long list by the way) was Bangkok.  We had visited Phuket in March, but this time we decided to visit the large, crowded, vibrant city of Bangkok.  The reason was that it was a 3-day weekend in Singapore (Happy Hari Raya Puasa!) and what else would we do?  We booked flight on Air Asia, found a 1 bedroom suite at Asoke Residence and took off for Thailand.

Julie had booked a couple of tours in advance, but we basically had all day Friday to explore before our evening tuk tuk tour.  Christopher had read about the Jim Thompson House in one of his many tour books so we decided to head there in the morning.

Google Maps can be a real aid when traveling (note that in many places you can download the local maps on Wi-Fi so you have them available when out and about without using mobile data) , but this time the “recommended route” directions were  in Thai.  We looked closely at the map and decided that we could take the “bus boat” along a canal to get there.   

The public boat was a trip.  You stand at the wharf and a large boat comes speeding up, a deckhand loops a docking line, and you have seconds to get on board.  Getting on was not like walking up a gangway, it was climbing over tires used as bumpers, onto a 12 cm wide gunnel, and then down onto the crowded, covered, deck.  The problem with the cover was that it was WAY too short for Brian.  He had to find a place to stick his head outside the cover.  The deckhand also collected fares, 11 Thai Bhat (about $0.33 USD) for the ride.  It was quite the experience and one I am glad we didn’t miss.

After making a transfer to another boat we ended up walking along the canal.  Lots of cool graffiti lined this section and there was a sign saying “Private Property—Please paint “.  A short walk brought us to the entrance of Jim Thompson’s House.

Thompson was with the OSS in WWII and stationed in Thailand.  After the war he set up a firm to revive silk weaving in Thailand.  He chose the location for his house as it was across the canal from the Muslim neighborhood that was home to many of his weavers. 

His house is actually a combination of six teak buildings that were each at least two centuries old.  Thompson was a practicing architect prior to the war and used his eye to make the houses flow together both visually and functionally.  The house was completed in 1959.

Thompson also used his eye to collect Thai and Khmer art.    The house has an extensive collection of art, tastefully displayed.  My favorite was how he used former windows of a building that abutted another building.  Rather than closing up the widow, he turned them into niches for the display or artifacts.

On 26 March, 1967 Thompson mysteriously disappeared in the Cameron Highlands of Thailand—his body was never found and his death remains a mystery today.  Was it a tiger, a robbery gone bad, or a political assassination because of his intelligence work?  It is doubtful that we will ever know.  What we do know is that his legacy will continue in Bangkok and future generations will appreciate what he created and save.

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East Side Story

Peranakan Tiles

Before moving to Singapore, I don’t think we had ever heard the term “Peranakan” before.  Peranakans means “local born” and are descendants of Chinese and Indian immigrants who married women from the Malay archipelago in the 15^th century.

The Joo Chiat area of Singapore, also known as Katong, is on the east part of Singapore and is known for its Peranakan food, culture, and tiles. It is unusual for Singapore in that many of its buildings are from the 1920’s.  (Growing up in California things older than 100 years were special—it’s even more so in Singapore.)

Tour Guide Diana

Julie went on a tour of the area through the American Women’s Association this week.  She was describing her adventure to me and I said that we should go again while it was still fresh in her mind—so we did.  And we thought it would be good to share it (and document it for the future).

Chew Joo Chiat was the owner of the plantation that was this area until the turn of the century.  The plantation was just coconut groves until wealthy Singaporeans began building seaside bungalows in Katong, mostly during the interwar period. (There has been a lot of landfill in Singapore in the last 100 years which is why Beach Road is now nowhere near a beach.)

In the late 20’s Peranakan Chinese started to leave the crowded Telok Ayer area of Singapore and headed east.  They began building shop houses in what is now Joo Chiat, just to the east of Katong.

Dumplings wrapped in banana leaf

The first place that we visited was Kim Choo Dumpling House.  This place is known for its wonderful dumplings, but head up the stairs to view the beading and a mini-museum of Peranakan culture.

Covered walkways 

in the CBD today, 

a reminder of 

the past

Shophouses are unique in their design.  Sir Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore (at least from the British point of view), codified their design.  He required that shophouses be built to provide covering for pedestrians from the rain.  In essence, a covered sidewalk—REALLY useful when it pours here (which it does on a regular basis) and referred to as a “five foot way”.  (Even today you can see the impacts of this in the modern buildings of the CDB.)  The shop was typically on the ground floor with the living area above. The ground floor also had to be concrete, while the upper floors were typically wood for ventilation.  And they were narrow, but deep, to avoid British property taxes which were based on a property’s width, not building size.

Bat wing vents on
 ground floor and
Circle "coin" under
2nd floor eaves

In Joo Chiat the shophouses were built to meet this requirement, but had their Peranakan spin.  The woodwork and filigree on the eaves was Malay.  The bat shaped ventilation holes are Chinese (bats are good luck there) as well as the round ventilation holes modeled after a Chinese coin.  They also have French windows, Portuguese shutters, Corinthian pilasters (Ricardo Montalban LIVES!), and the plaster work was Indian.  The original Peranakan tiles (which are quite well known) are actually from Europe and served as ballast on ships coming to the Far East.

Reminder of
the past

There are quite a few beautiful examples of restored shophouses in Joo Chiat.  Sometimes whole stretches of the road are lined with these colorful buildings.  One of my favorites though is one that is not colorful, but they kept the original store sign for the “Lucky Book Store”.  It’s now a private residence.

While the restored shophouses were interesting, we also enjoyed the two temples that we visited, one Buddhist and one Hindu.  Growing up Catholic I never felt nervous at all about entering a church or cathedral.    But going into a temple is a little different.  About all I know is taking off your shoes is required.  Luckily Julie’s guide took them into two temples and explained what you can do and what you are seeing.  These were both neighborhood temples that were not in tourist track, so they were very welcoming.

Happy Buddha

The Kuan Im Tng Buddhist Temple is a beautiful place.  Happy Buddha (the future Buddha) welcomes you to the temple (it is always the first Buddha to greet you at a Chinese Buddhist temple).  This one is especially cool as it is two-sided—it has to make you smile. 

After we took off our shoes there were 3 older people sharing a meal and they were very welcoming, signaling to us to come in and enjoy the temple.

The initial temple was very small in size and surrounded by a coconut plantation (it is in Joo Chiat after all). In 1972, the temple underwent renovation and then further expanded in 1988.  It is obviously an important part of the community and worth the time to make a short visit.

Brian favorite
caption

The Hindu temple was Sri Senpaga Vinayagar.  It is here because in the 1850’s a small statue of Lord Vinayagar was found in a pond near there and it was deemed to be a sign.  Today there is a wall of small statues of Lord Vinayagar.  In fact, Julie’s guide heard of someone finding a statue at a construction site and the guide got it and brought it to the temple. 

You enter the temple and walk through it in a clockwise direction.  There are various quotes on the walls that are fun to read.  There was some sort of ceremony going on with chanting that just added to the experience.

And, like almost every other place in Singapore, we found a good restaurant.  You might expect it to be Peranakan or Indian, but no: It was German!  On Joo Chiat Road you will find Werner’s Oven and have some of the best homemade sausages (paired with a 0.5l hefeweizen) and bread (loaves available to go) that you have ever had.  And the owner, Nancy, just added to the experience.  Definitely a place to return to again and again.